Tarzan (2013)

I seem to have not seen my fill on apes in movies this weekend. I had this 2013 version of Tarzan in the file that is a weird mix of animation and motion capture out of Germany. I say weird because while the animation is good in some parts, the over all effect left me feeling cold. Additions were made the story that didn't need any modern UPDATES. Isn't a boy lost in the jungle and being raised by a kindly she-ape a compelling enough story??

For reasons unknown, the story is updated to modern times so that 'JJ' Greystoke's parents could die in helicopter crash chasing down a space meteor with strange powers. Maybe they changed that part of the Tarzan origin story so that they could make an evil villain out of some dotcom billionaire chasing down the same meteorite a decade later so that he can exploit it's power. Of course his arrival brings Tarzan in touch with the head scientist's daughter, named Jane of course who is a very modern girl, of course. But having few other options, these two teens fall in love but will have to fight to protect their love.

I enjoyed most of the predicable story but it looks like it was made with animation technology five years old. It all feels very transitional in a visual sense but there are many scenes of great beauty and thrilling action. It's especially fun to watch Tarzan move through the trees. It's like parkour in the jungle with vines. But still the computer cannot get humans right. They look more like character in a video game inside a real life environment. The juxtaposition of the two can be jarring at times. I found myself tuning out and getting back to it as I multitasked. Barely enough to hold your interest but the kids may like it. It's pretty bloodless and all the right people suffer in the end. Only for fans of the Jungle King genre.



Why the German production team felt the need to spice up the story of a boy who grows up to become 'king of the jungle' with an even more improbable tale involving a meteorite and a lost world is frankly anybody's guess.